TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Advice on Bareboat Captain's Certification

All,

I have rented bareboat Catamaran's for a few years. I am interested in going through training or certification to get my captain's license for bareboat catamaran rental. I am heading the USVI/BVI on November 5th for a sabbatical from work. I would like to go through the training from Nov. 5th - Nov. 12th. There is no availability at the Robert Swain school. I would prefer to be trained on a CAT. Can anyone recommend a school/certification program? Thank you.

The BVI charter companies work mainly on your resume. The "XYZ Charter Captain" certificate is not a license.

I think what he is looking for is the ASA Cruising Catamaran course. Once upon a time I was certified to teach that, but not anymore. Not a lot of demand for the course so not sure who in BVI would offer.

Bareboat certification and Captains license are worlds apart

Try NauticEd.org. They offer the ISC certificate. If that's not what your after then email them (Grant) and they will surely put you in touch with the right school.

Just curious as to what the reason for getting certification is? If you've already chartered, then you really don't need it. Nothing wrong with increasing your knowledge though.

TMM offers ASA 114 for bareboat catamaran certification.

Thank you for the input thus far and I want to clarify what I am looking for. The charter boat companies has previously approved me as a captain for a 42'+ CATS with basically no sailing experience:) I have/had enough sense that I knew this was a bad idea to captain that size of vessel without experience. We have hired a wonderful captain for every trip - he has taught me a lot and has become a family friend. I will continue to hire that Captain because our entire family has become close with him. During our last trip - a couple was staying at Scrub Island and spending a week at a sailing school because they purchased a 42' CAT and were going to sail around the world. I am not seeking certification to rent a CAT - I am seeking some defined training/course on sailing to improve my knowledge/experience for handling a CAT because I desire to learn more and believe in training/learning. I will take a look at the suggestion from Schwendy and LianeLeTendre..

We got our certification with Fairwinds out of Saint Thomas. Very helpful and enjoyed our week with them

My wife and I completed and were certified in multiple ASA courses in August through Virgin Islands Sailing School out of Red Hook. They were great to deal with and the captain was a fantastic instructor. Our goal was/is to charter a cat with our family on our own which we will be doing in December.

"The more you know , the more you realize how much you still need to learn".

Good for you.

...I'm still blown away by the OP's friends who were "spending a week at sailing school" and then planning to sail their newly-purchased 42 foot catamaran around the world...wow....

I've read many circumnavigation blogs and a surprising number started to realize the dream when they had little or no sailing experience. It seems like many take an ASA course or two and do a lot of reading up on seamanship, do some sailing on their own, then break in to the next level by transiting the ICW, gulf stream/Bahamas (or similar if their from Europe). By the time they've hit the Panama Canal they've pretty much figured out crusing, somewhere after Polynesia their becoming experts. Many seem to get to this point in less than a year. With most you can tell they know their stuff but they also know it only takes one mistake to ruin the dream. Doesn't surprise me at all that this couple is where they are now.

If you want to read a long actual example of that kind of trip by new sailors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DT...MSMS#nav-subnav

And their well written and illustrated blog:

http://www.bumfuzzle.com/septemberoctober-2003/

circumnavigation does not start with a transoceanic passage. Like, begin with coastal cruising/Carribean cruising (Which could take years).

During that time, lots of learning to do.No hurry...Enjoy the journey.

If you have not taken any of the ASA courses, you will have to start with ASA level 101, 103 and 104. All three of these courses must be taken aboard a monohull. THEN you move up to 114 ... which is the catamaran course.

You can read about the course requirements here.

In the BVI, it takes 10 nights (with your own private instructor) aboard a monohull to accomplish the first three levels, if you charter a bareboat. I'm not sure about the duration with the various sailing schools that teach groups.

I obviously don't know where you live, but there are many different places where you can take these courses in the US and other parts of the world. You will find all the various places offering courses in the US here.

Hope this helps.

Black Rock Sailing School from Boston teaches on our boats (CYOA Yacht Charters) in the winter time out of St Thomas. You can reach Brenton at 203 981 0360

Sunsail has a sailing school in Tortola :

http://www.sunsail.com/sailing-schools/tortola-courses

Took my ASA 103, 104 with Black Rock, sailing out of CYOA. I knew how to sail and have chartered before but the extra knowledge learned that week was tremendous. Learning from and experienced captain/instructor to gain better control of boat and the systems was key. I have become a more efficient and capable sailor. I would like to continue on to get my ASA 114 and some other certifications because you can't have enough knowledge when being on the water.

I would stay away from the Fair Wind sailing school!

While they offer good practical experience, they do not offer a recognised certification. Plus the owner is a mess, treats his captains like crap and there is no guarantee that there will be anyone to offer you training when you get there. I am speaking from personal experience having taken the fair wind training course in the BVI in 2015.

Sounds like you want to pursue an ASA certification from which you can build on. Stick to ASA certified schools would be my suggestion.

This ^^^^^

The good news is that, depending on where you are located, there is a good possibility that you can--at the very least--get 101 out of the way in your local area. You may even be able to get both 101 and 103 locally.

Good luck. Additional training is never a bad thing.

Followed your path -- Would say that the ASA114 course was a relative waste of time -- only points were reef earlier, let the jib backwind when tacking and jibe over tack if possible. Motoring and maneuvering with 2 props is easily learned.

Just an FYI once you leave the Virgin Islands and the Carribean the formality of certification or a "licence" can be much more important to charter a self skippered boat. In Greece and across Europe something formal that demonstrates your competence can be a requirement. During our charters in Greece the last step in the checkout process is the charter operator takes all the completed paperwork to the "Port Captain" to gain his approval and stamp for the voyage. In our case Yacht Club Membership Cards have sufficed. Another twist on the power of the port captains in Greece. As their Meltemi winds fill in the Port Captain will order the harbor closed and no one leaves that day. My point; some parts of the world outside of the BVI can be much more formal here.

In my opinion any multi-day onboard sail training should start with some type of direct conversation with the individual instructor before anything is booked. There should be a clear understanding of the goals and the approach to be used before any agreement is reached. If you just want a piece of paper that is one goal; if you really want to learn and work on skills that may require a very different coach that meets the culture and learning style of all involved.

Is there a Virgin Island broker who has a practice that includes sail training? Any freelance sailing coaches that will join a group for a few days or a week? I do not count the marketing lead charter operators who will put any skipper they can find on your boat a reliable answer to the family looking for good coaching.

See the posts above the goals and quality are all over the charts.

Agreed, there is nothing magical about sailing a cat. If you're competent on a monohull with like sized sail plans you will have no issues with a cat.
G

Take the ASA 101 course locally and the ASA 103 locally if you can. They are the sailing focused courses and are taught on monohulls. ASA 104 is focused on systems and is important if you want to know how to take care of your charter vessel. I did all three courses in a row through the Rob Swain school, but the only real benefit was sailing in the BVIs and learning the approaches, which you have already done.

For catamaran, we had a captain for a day from our charter company show us the how-tos (awesome guy and TTOL user) and check us out. That worked fine. To be honest, sail time on a monohull and knowledge of the cruising grounds is enough. As camelot said, its not hard to learn how to maneuver and sail a cat.

Cheers, RickG

Lianne's advice is spot on.
Our story: My husband and I have sailed all our lives on lakes. We chartered once in the BVI's in 2000 with a training captain. Fast forward to 2014 - we spent 10 days on a cat in the BVI's getting our 101, 103, 104 and 114 (through Virgin Island Sailing School out of St. Thomas). March 2015, November 2015, and April 2016 we've chartered boats by ourselves in the BVI's. The classes gave us the knowledge and confidence to do it ourselves. Strongly recommend them if you are at all questioning your ability.
Fast forward to May, 2016 - we bought a 53' Carver Voyager* and plan to do the Great Loop when my husband retires. :-)
*not a sailboat, but lots of our ASA training applies to big boating

PS: TMM is a great organization!